1 - The broken promise
The atmosphere she lives in is not at all healthy for someone who's carrying a baby.
The number of times she pleaded and begged to leave her was higher than the sky and the mental torture she was bearing was deeper than the ocean.
What did she do to live in such hell? She was obsessed with him! And again, it wasn't Aditya's fault to make her go crazy about him!
Court scene:
Aditya, who was left in middle of nowhere, stood there staring at the uneven ground pondering why things like this only happen to him.
He was not sure if he should blame himself for getting involved in things like this or blame Anu for making him go through all this.
When he was busy cursing his life, Gautham approached him. His entry at such time was not usual and it shocked Aditya to an extent.
"Hanging on the edge of a cliff?" Gautham asked. This only question of his made Aditya understand that he was here to add ghee to the fire.
Irrespective of his mood, Aditya answered his question. "Who said? Who said that I am hanging on the edge of a cliff?" After a pause, "I am already on the ground... and I didn't jump. Someone pushed me," he was being poetic when there was no need to.
The mood of teasing him and the smile on Gautham's face slowly faded away looking at Aditya going through such kind of pain. Yet, he couldn't help from defending his rival, Anu, who's not just a rival.
Gautham asked, "When you yourself are not capable of standing on your promise, how could you expect someone else to consider the promise they made?" Aditya clearly understood what he was talking about.
Controlling his frustration that was about to explode, Aditya said, "See... I do understand what you are talking about but I have no idea why you are – "
"Why don't you just admit your mistake?"
"Dude, What's wrong with you? - If you are not capable enough to solve the case, just step back," Aditya was on the verge of losing patience.
"Just like the way Anu did?" Gautham was testing him.
The sudden onset of anger on Adity's face said it all. Love... not sure about it but he does respect Anu, is the conclusion Gautham came to.
Aditya left the toxic conversation halfway because, why not?
Anu, who withdrew from the case, was walking back. Negativity around her and people cursing at her did drop into those precious ears of hers and she could do nothing except for accepting them.
Anu felt like someone was calling her. She looked around to see who it was and there was Aditya who was piercing her with the innocent eyes of his.
For some reason she felt like she owed either an explanation or an apology to him.
Those eyes... demanded for an explanation, requested her to stick to the case and begged her to stand by him at the same time. Aditya was in a misconception assuming that Anu deliberately did it all but little did he know, she really wanted to save him till the very last minute. Not because it was her profession. Just because she still loves him. When the moment was in front of her, her mind overpowered her emotions and feelings.
Anu didn't regret stepping back from the case but she did regret the promise she broke.
While they were still looking at each other, "Come here," his lips muttered, bobbing his head once.
Even from a few meters of distance, she could read his lips. She nodded her head in denial holding back her tears. As the were blocked by her command, the fragile heart of hers drowned in the salty water, the so called tears!
Accepting her denial, he decided to approach her.
His walk was interrupted by his manager. "Sir, we have to leave. There are a lot of people outside the court," she informed him about his fans who were dying to meet him and his haters who were ready to kill him.
Obeying her, he followed his manager and left without meeting her. Anu, who was watching all this from a distance, hated his manager for the first time.
In the meantime, Karthik came to meet his senior when she was busy scolding herself for not meeting Aditya when he asked her to. Her thoughts and tears were suppressed automatically by Karthik's arrival.
"Ma'am, shall we leave?" he asked.
"To where? To get my share of scoldings?" she referred to the drama she caused.
Karthik said, "No. To get the rest you deserve". Listening to that one line at her worst put her mind at ease. She was glad and grateful to have him. He further said, "Someone was actually asking for you".
"Who?" She asked
"The prosecutor of this case, I guess," he was passing on the information to her. "His name is Gautham," his brother joined in the conversation. "Yeah, Gautham... he was asking for you," Karthik repeated after his brother.
There was absolute zero reaction on her face. However, she did wonder why Gautham would do such when there was an agreement of pretending as rivals.
She looked around for Gautham who was busy having a talk with Shravan, Roshini's brother. When she was looking for Gautham, she ended up looking at someone she was not supposed to.
The eyes that were spitting fire, told Anu that Lavanya isn't going to slide this off easily. "Sh*t!" Rajesh and Karthik exclaimed at the same time looking at their CEO approaching her. Anu wasn't scared but she was sad that she had no excuse to make.
"Why? Just tell me why did you do this?" Lavanya asked without raising her voice as she was concerned about the image she carries.
"Why don't you ask yourself the same question?" As always, Anu didn't back off when Lavanya had no idea what Anu was talking about. Actually, even Anu has no idea what she was talking about. The self defense mechanism of hers just turned on without her being aware of it.
"What do you mean?"
She searched for an excuse then and there. "Why did you assign me the case in spite of knowing that I can't do this?"
"There we go again!" Lavayna thought. She ordered Anu to meet her in the office giving her 30 minutes of time as she can't pick a fight right in front of the court.
"Ah! Fu*k this profession!" She cursed her profession for the first time in entire life.
She was not ready for the war but she was sure about one thing. She will neither get back to him nor his case. It took an unnecessary drama in the court, a couple of tears, her profession at stake and a month of time to realize how unhealthy Aditya is for her.
When Anu was leaving, "I will come with you, Ma'am," as always Karthik was not willing to leave her alone. Anu replied saying, "I am not going on a trip, Karthik. Every one of us has to go to the law firm, whether you like it or not," she misunderstood him.
"I know, Ma'am"
"Then what? How does it matter in which car you are coming? You can come with your brother too," Anu was taking it all on the poor intern.
Karthik said, "I want to be with you, Ma'am".
Anu looked at Rajesh for permission. "Why are you looking at me?" Rajesh asked. Anu was about to give him an explanation and as always Rajesh interrupted saying, "He is your assistant first and then comes our sibling relation".
Anu was confused why her rivals were being sweet to her. Is it because they pity her? — It was like living that one last sweet moment with people before dying just because you don't get to live with them anymore.
As Anu was already running out of time, she just kept accepting everything that came her way. While starting the car she thought and expected the drive to be full of questions but to her astonishment, it was all silent.
Not being able to digest the silence, "Say something, Karthik," Anu said.
Inhaling sharply, "You should have followed me when I asked you to come in, Ma'am," he referred to the conversation Anu and Aditya had. Karthik thought that conversation led to all this and of course, it was true!
Anu was too stunned to speak. Slowing the pace of the car, "Karthik, you are extraordinary in reading the atmospheres," she complimented him.
The drive was again on silent mode after the untimely compliment. Anu would have loved the silence if the circumstances were positive radiating the sunrise vibes but that day, the atmosphere was gloomy and that was the only reason she hated silence.
She doesn't want to end up thinking about the things that make her think about the things that she is not supposed to think about! With this thought, she didn't bother to break the silence again.
Anu noticed her intern peeping at the sky through the window. "Never saw the sky?" She took the initiative of dropping the silence.
In spite of having multiple tabs opened in his brain, he made an effort to answer the question. "Never saw the sky being this inconsiderate," he was being poetic too.
"What do you mean?"
"Even after all this mess, look at sky being unbothered!" he was talking all irrelevant. Anu could understand his intentions but was not sure what he was trying to convey.
He continued saying, "Look at nature doing its work as if it doesn't care".
Anu was startled listening to him talk in such a way as if he got heartbroken recently. "What now? Do you want the sky to weep?" she asked.
"Hmm," he nodded his head, manifesting how badly he wanted it to rain.
"I don't understand why you want the sky to cry when – "
"So that you can let your guards down and let those tears come out," he interrupted her.
The sudden break was a sign of how effective his words were. It was really beautiful how Karthik sees through her thoughts.
Since her childhood, no one ever told her that it's okay to cry. She was, and is a girl who cries in the bathroom not allowing people to see her weak side. What does she do when she is weak? She pretends! She pretends as if she is strong
She fondly looked at him and said, "I wish you were of my age!"
Karthik laughed out loud at once.
That one line, which sounded cheesy enough to make a cheese burger, lifted up the mood of those two who were having a tough time.
"It's okay, Ma'am. People with eleven years difference are marrying too," Karthik said, having a wide smile on his face.
"Ayy! You are not allowed to flirt with your seniors," Anu said, restarting the car. It was just a fun and lovely conversation that didn't allow the negative thoughts to enter in.
Time. Too slow for someone who waits and too fast for someone who rejoices in the moment. Even for them, time passed quickly and they were in front of the office.
After parking the car and before getting off, "Ma'am How about making a promise for yourself? Just like, no matter what happens I will do this or I won't do this - something like that," Karthik helped to have a strong mind and organized thoughts so that she knows what she wants.
Thinking for a while, she looked around.
Finally it striked, "No matter what happens, I will stay away from this case as well as him," she made a promise to herself, closing her eyes.
She was sure and strong about the promise she made to herself but little did she know, she is going to break this promise too!
